The hotel Shoreditch

Rooms was opened in

April 2010. The intention

was to provide a 26-room

boutique hotel with day

spa pass to the facilities

offered by the Shoreditch

House Members’ Club.

The new hotel sits adjacent to the entrance

to the club and occupies the previous

vacant plot on the Tea Building/Biscuit

Building site. Cowshed, suppliers of plant-

based Spa beauty products, occupies the

ground floor and basement with the hotel

rooms above. They are all accessed via the

Club’s main entrance in Ebor Street.

A new, contemporary structure rises from

behind the retained façade of the old White

Swan Pub. This new building, at three

storeys, is clad in Corten steel

and takes the form of a series of folded

plates. The form is more reminiscent of

an old engineering structure than a new

building; however the tonal qualities of the

Corten steel sit in dialogue with the historic

brickwork of the adjacent warehouses.

For more information contact Stephen Archer, Archer Architects, Studio 3.07 The Tea Building, Shoreditch High Street, London, E1 6JJ.

Don’t miss Ann Robey’s article on page 2 exploring the history of the site.

SPACES 2010

News and views about Hackney’s built environmentIssue 29/30 Summer/Autumn 2010

At the Heart of Hackney since 1967

Shoreditch Rooms By Kim Driscoll

contents01 Shoreditch Rooms

02 The Tea Building and White Swan

03 From Dalston to Shoreditch

04 The Ship Aground

04 New Lansdowne Club

04 Hackney Design Awards

05 LBH Training Centre

06 Planning news

06 Noticeboard

07 Book review: The Green Guide

08 News

08 Publications

08 Hackney Society events

THE HACKNEY SOCIETY

The former warehouses known today as the Tea Building and the Biscuit Building were erected separately in the 1920s and early 1930s on an imposing corner site where Shoreditch High Street joins Bethnal Green Road.

The Tea Building was originally built as a bacon factory for the Lipton brand of Allied Foods Ltd in 1931-33. The adjacent Biscuit Building was a slightly older warehouse built in 1920 and extended in 1928, which was principally used as a tea-packing warehouse for much of its life. Both warehouses were joined together internally in the early 1930s and the former White Swan Public House was integrated into the complex during the mid-1960s. The refurbished shell of the Tea Building is a landmark in Shoreditch, and today the whole of the premises has been converted to accommodate a fashionable mix of creative industries, media companies and artists, as well as a private members’ club – Soho House – on the top two floors. A new hotel in the former White Swan PH has recently been opened, completing the transformation of this area (see the accompanying article on the front page).

By the mid-19th century Shoreditch High Street had become the principal commercial road of the district with a daily street market, which survived until the 1930s. But from the later 19th century, the area started to be dominated by wholesale suppliers. Printing, clothing, furniture making, tobacco and food processing industries had a presence in the street, with a number of the largest draper’s shops in East London. Further changes came late in the 1870s when a new terminus was built as a two-level goods depot for the Great Eastern Railway, after passenger transport was relocated to Liverpool Street. For almost a century Bishopsgate Goods Yard dominated the area opposite the Tea Building.

The Tea Building was constructed in two phases between 1931 and 1933 by George Parker & Sons to the designs of Hal Williams & Co, architects. Hal Williams, a New Zealander by birth, was a specialist designer of warehouses and factories during the early 20th century. He was also an expert on refrigeration. This huge building has eight storeys over a basement and forms part of a larger island block that extends from Shoreditch High Street to Ebor Street. Most of the rest of the block is composed of an equally vast tea

warehouse built in 1921 and enlarged in 1928 for Pearks Dairies. When new, these food processing buildings had few equals for size in the immediate locality.

The Tea Building is steel-framed and faced in red brick with concrete and stone dressings. It has a long frontage of 16 bays to Shoreditch High Street, with elevations to Redchurch Street and Bethnal Green Road. Lipton’s extensive new premises incorporated cold stores and smoke houses for the bacon, as well as a packing department. On the sixth and seventh floors were special heating and ventilation systems for ‘pale-drying’ processing of the bacon. The bacon washing process took place in the basement. The factory offices were on the ground floor, where the checking and dispatch departments were.

The plan was for the new warehouse to be joined to the existing warehouse in Bethnal Green Road that had been built in 1920-21 for Pearks Dairies by means of openings through the party wall. Despite reservations and quibbling about safety, the London County Council granted permission for the two buildings to be merged in 1933, when the roof was also strengthened.

From the late 1930s the enlarged building was used for processing and packing tea. The building then had front offices overlooking Bethnal Green Road, while the large floor areas behind were divided into four quadrants, each served by a stair and supplied with lifts and chutes and conveyors for tea chests. By 1960, the five floors between three and seven had seven

A view of the construction of the Tea Building (a former bacon warehouse in 1932)

The history of the Tea Building, Biscuit Building and the former White Swan Public House

By Ann Robey

2

bacon smoking ovens on every floor where sides of bacon were hung on hooks on rails near the ceiling level to be smoked. In 1968 partitions were put into the seventh floor to form an experimental coffee packing area.

At the corner of Ebor Street was the White Swan, formerly a public house dating from c.1880. Built in brick and terracotta it has a huge ornamental swan in a relief panel in the corner elevation towards Bethnal Green Road. The unification of the premises of 5-11 Bethnal Green Road and 13 Bethnal Green Road (The White Swan) took place in 1966. In June 1968 a laboratory was created on the basement, ground and first floors of the Swan House building, as the premises had become known. These facilities were used in connection with the tea, coffee and bacon packing that occurred in the adjacent warehouse.

It is fitting that the warehouse created for Lipton is now occupied by a variety of media and marketing companies and is at the centre of the creative industries in South Shoreditch. Sir Thomas Lipton has been credited with being the ‘father’ of modern advertising. One of his first publicity stunts involved parading some of the largest hogs in captivity through the streets of Glasgow with signs around their necks proclaiming ‘I’m going to Lipton’s. The best shop in town for Irish bacon!’ When he entered the tea trade in 1889 he invented slogans such as ‘Direct from the Tea Gardens to the Teapot’ and his nickname became Sir Tea.

The original North London Railway was conceived in the 1840s and during its heyday (1846-96) was estimated to have transported 1.7 billion passengers along its tracks. The City Extension opened in 1865 to link Broad Street (now Liverpool Street) via Dalston Junction to East and West London. But it was the introduction of electric trams in 1906 that was to instigate a slow decline culminating in the line’s closure in 1986. The railway’s distinctive architecture suffered neglect, war damage and eventual demolition. A wilderness of buddleia rapidly invaded – covering the tracks.

Tuesday 27 April 2010 saw the historic reopening of the City Extension of the North London Railway after a 24-year period of disuse. The long-awaited ‘East London Line extension’ now provides a service from Dalston through Shoreditch and, for the first time, onwards to South London.

In Hackney, the new stations, while functional, are deeply uninspiring. They share a contemporary material language of textured vandal-proof stainless steel (a familiar casing to launderette washing machines), fine-grain terrazzo and orange livery. Overall the spatial organisation is driven entirely by the needs of passengers in transit, with the resulting railway architecture more concerned with commodity and firmness than delight.

Dalston Junction and Shoreditch High Street stations (among the most controversial redevelopments to the Line) are enclosed beneath seemingly unnecessary canopies – consigning the platforms to a permanent ‘subterranean’ gloom. The concrete monolith of Shoreditch High Street station, designed by JSA Architecture Ltd, replaces the equally monolithic Bishopsgate Goods Yard of 1881. Unlike its predecessor the new station currently stands stark and uncompromising – taunting the threatened 18th- and 19th-century architecture that surrounds it. But final judgement must be reserved until the latent potential of Dalston Square and the regeneration of Bishopsgate Goods Yard are realised. The wind tunnel that is the new Dalston

Junction station concourse is undeniably economical in the extreme, and only hastens Dalston Lane’s sickening decline from a historic streetscape to a mere ‘route’. Any consideration of the relocating of the Italianate stairway from the old Broad Street Station to Dalston Junction was no doubt abandoned as too high a price for pleasure alone.

Haggerston Station does take a cautious pleasure in its architecture with a gentle street presence, and just about succeeds in assimilating public art by way of a curious tiled mural inspired by Halley’s comet and other imagery from outer space. Edmund Halley was born in Haggerston so the mural isn’t entirely frivolous and the compass needle orientates north up the line.

But it is at Hoxton Station, a new stop to this stretch of line, that the project tries to make amends for the much-loved landmarks that have been destroyed in the process of reinstating the railway. Designed by Weston Williamson the station building cuts through the richly

3

From Dalston to Shoreditch: the opening of the East London Line extension

By Lisa Shell

The new six-minute ride from Dalston Junction to Shoreditch High Street is intense: the recent construction of new buildings blurs with the on-going destruction of others, private corners become abruptly public, and an exciting dormant Hackney skyline is revealed, intensifying as Shoreditch approaches.

textured brick arches and in doing so reveals glimpses of new pedestrian routes and roses clambering over the blood red walls of the Geffrye Museum. These surroundings provide a fitting home for the North London Railway War Memorial which had been relegated from Broad Street Station to a car park in Richmond in 1985.

The Line will now serve the local population as it always did – reducing commuting times and hopefully delivering much-needed custom to Dalston’s businesses. But more critically the new East London Line is tangible evidence of ‘inward investment’ in Dalston and will be a trigger to further private initiatives. Whilst the real impact of such investment for Dalston is one of the most hotly debated issues locally, the juggernaut wheels of regeneration are now firmly set in motion.

Lisa Shell is a resident and architect who has been a member of the Hackney Society since 1999.

Building Watch

4

New Lansdowne Club – campaigners’ frustration reaches boiling point

Campaigners hoping to save the former New Lansdowne Club from further neglect and dereliction are becoming frustrated by the little progress that has been achieved by Hackney Council in securing a sustainable future for this late-17th-century house.

According to the Council, the current owner went into receivership during May 2010. Since then the administrators have appointed a ‘corporate recovery manager’ who confirmed to the Council that an eviction notice has been served on the existing squatters, and that they anticipate obtaining vacant possession in the latter part of August 2010. A repairs schedule, drawn

up in dialogue with English Heritage, has been sent to the recovery manager who, in turn, has appointed surveyors to supervise works that as a minimum will ensure the building is weather tight. In tandem with this work the administrators will be exploring options, which we understand will include possibly selling the building and securing development partners to carry out the extant Listed Building Consent issued in 2004. Interestingly, the Society understands that the Spitalfields Trust has expressed an interest in acquiring the freehold. Also, Antic Ltd – a pub/music venue chain – has made enquiries about the building.

For further updates check the website.

Hackney Council’s Conservation, Urban Design and Sustainability team have met with the new owners of the former Ship Aground to discuss the merits of the existing building and procedures that should be followed if they seek to develop the site.

As reported in the last issue of Spaces the existing building is not only important for its value as a survival of the Victorian architecture that makes up much of the Lea Bridge Conservation Area, but also as a building of individual architectural and historic merit, which is confirmed by the building’s identification as a Building of Townscape Merit in the 2005 Conservation Area Appraisal. In line with national policy, as set out in PPS5 (Planning for the Historic Environment), there is a presumption against demolition of buildings in conservation areas that make a positive contribution to their character and appearance.

The owners do not favour retention of the building, as they believe that they cannot achieve the space required for the proposed use as a temple and cultural centre for the Sikh community. A council spokesperson said ‘[the Council] has a duty to consider any valid proposals that

come forward for demolition in conservation areas, and it is within the owners’ rights to submit an application for Conservation Area Consent. However, an application would only be considered with a full justification for demolition in line with the tests for demolition, as set out in PPS5.’

Before any decision can be made details of the replacement scheme would also be required in the form of a full planning application. The applicants have been advised to use the Council’s formal pre-application service, should they wish to submit a planning application. Clapton Conservation Areas Advisory Committee will be invited to comment at the pre-application stage.

Update on the former Ship Aground PH, Lea Bridge Road

Hackney Design Awards

Nominations for the 2010 Hackney Design Awards are now open. This year there will be a chance for everyone to vote for their favourite new building in the form of the People’s Choice Award. Along with major housing developments, private homes and commercial buildings; public and cultural buildings; schools; parks and gardens featured prominently at the last awards in 2008. Once nominations close on 2 August 2010, an independent Judging Panel will shortlist. All shortlisted entries will appear in Hackney Today and on the Council’s website in early October. The shortlisted entry that receives the most votes from the public will be announced at the awards ceremony in November. This year the Hackney Society has been invited to sit on the Judging Panel. To nominate a building log on to www.hackney.gov.uk/designawards If you have any queries, contact Olga Vadenbergh on 020 8356 8141 or email designawards2010@hackney.gov.uk

Civic Trust Awards 2011 Now Open

The aim of the Civic Trust Awards is to encourage the very best in architecture and environmental design, to improve the built environment for us all but more specifically, to reward projects that offer a positive cultural, social, economic or environmental benefit to the community.

The closing date for entries is Friday 17 September 2010.

Download an application pack at:

http://www.civictrustawards.org.uk/news/news-stories/2011-application-round-now-open

In May 2010 Hackney Council decided to push ahead with the proposed demolition of the former LBH Training Centre for Adults with Learning Disabilities at 205a Morning Lane. The Twentieth Century Society and SAVE Britain’s Heritage joined the Hackney Society is condemning the Council’s decision to demolish this elegant Brutalist building whilst the building was being assessed for listing by English Heritage. This action was all the more shocking, as no planning application had at that point been submitted to the Council for the proposed new school on the site.

On 15 April 2010, English Heritage received separate applications from the Hackney Society and the Twentieth Century Society to consider 205a Morning Lane for listing. The building was at that time threatened with demolition, having been identified – along with the large inter-war building located next door (formerly known as the Berger Paint Factory) – for redevelopment as part of Hackney Council’s Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.

English Heritage notified the local authority’s planning and education staff by letter and email, and followed this up with a number of phone calls in an attempt to arrange a site visit to the building. However on 10 May 2010, before a visit could take place, English Heritage learned from the Society that demolition work had already begun on 205a. This was confirmed by observation later that day, and at a site meeting on 13 May 2010. On the latter occasion it was explained that news of the listing application had not reached Hackney’s BSF Department, and that the

recent works had been precipitated by the expiry of a demolition notice, originally filed on 24 March 2010. In an Advice Report, published on 17 June 2010, English Heritage stated:

‘Nevertheless, and even in its present damaged state, it is clear that no. 205a was once a building of architectural merit. The unfussy integrity of the design, structurally and functionally honest without boasting about the fact, is manifest in the strong but subtle detailing of the front block and in its nicely-balanced formal relationship with the workshop behind. It shows the emerging Brutalist aesthetic used with a discipline and dignity

reminiscent of contemporary work by architects such as James Stirling.’

English Heritage concluded that:‘The recent damage to the building cannot be ignored, however, and it is this above all else that undermines the case for designation. By the time of the 13 May site meeting, demolition work had already destroyed all but a fragment of the rear workshop and part of the front block, severely compromising both the functional and the aesthetic integrity of the complex … In the case of no. 205a, whatever the merits of the original design, what now survives is altogether too fragmentary to be of special interest.’

Currently, buildings being assessed for listing do not have the interim protection needed to save them from such action. This is a flaw within the system, but you would hope that Hackney Council, both as guardians of our heritage and owners of the building, should have behaved more responsibly. What kind of example does this set to other developers in the borough? This case illustrates the plight of many fine 20th-century buildings in the borough not currently protected by conservation legislation. The Hackney Society believes that the building could have easily been adapted to meet the needs of the school that is planned for the site, and feel extremely saddened that the sustainability agenda only seems to extend to creating new energy-efficient buildings, rather than reusing older ones. We hope that the forthcoming ‘austerity measures’ will result in architects having to use their creativity to try and integrate existing buildings into new schemes.

LBH Training Centre for Adults with Learning Disabilities

By Lisa Rigg

Building Watch

5

Hackney has two Grade II listed buildings from the 1960s:

Church of St Michael and All Angels by N F Cachemaille-Day (1959-60)

Haggerston School for Girls by Ernö Goldfinger (1962-67)

Carbuncle Cup 2010 Building Design’s annual award gives recognition of the most fiendishly ugly building completed in the UK in the past 12 months. Submit your nominations by 22 July 2010 at http://www.bdonline.co.uk/news/uk/nominate-your-carbuncle/5002065.article

LoveLocalLandmarksA review of Hackney’s register of locally listed buildings is urgently required. For 20th-century buildings that you would like to see added to the local list please email your nominations to: info@hackneysociety.org

Planning news

Noticeboard

38-40 Upper Clapton Road, former Tram Depot (2009/2490 The Victorian Society, SAVE Britain’s Heritage, the Clapton Conservation Areas Advisory Committee, the New Lammas Lands Defence Committee and the Hackney Society’s Planning Sub-group all objected to the proposal to partly demolish the former Tram Depot on Upper Clapton Road, and erect five buildings ranging in height from two- to seven-storeys with a mixed use development comprising 90 residential units, 1840 sqm of Class B1 use (light industrial), and 187 sqm of Class D1 use (community centre). In addition to vociferous objections from heritage groups, 152 letters and three separate petitions, signed by approximately 590 people, were received. At the Planning Sub-committee, on 29 June 2010, the proposals were granted planning permission.

Haggerston School for Girls (2010/1068 and 2010/1070) The Society’s Planning Sub-group made various detailed comments on the design of the proposed scheme, by Avanti Architects, to refurbish Ernö Goldfinger’s Haggerston School for Girls, and to erect a new two-storey

annexe building to the west of the site. In summary, we acknowledged the importance of the works and considered Avanti Architects a good choice to undertake the work. This refurbishment and extension feels like a very important project in terms of proving to teachers, parents, politicians and Building Schools for the Future programme officers that this period of building is worth retaining and is indeed well suited to modern-day teaching practices. The location and massing of the new annexe building was considered appropriate, although the Society felt the detailed design could be improved – particularly the covered walkway, connecting the blocks, and choice of brickwork. The main point we raised was whether the replacement aluminium windows for the main teaching block could replicate the existing fenestration and

profile of the original Crittall steel windows. At the Planning Sub-committee meeting on 29 June 2010 planning permission and listed building consent was granted subject to a number of conditions, including: choice of materials; detailing of windows; colour schemes; and all existing original features including the Tannoy system, wireless sets, music signage and blackboards to be protected and retained.

Tesco, 55 Morning Lane (2008/3039 and 2008/3041) At the 28 July Planning Sub-committee meeting, the application for the new Tesco Store was refused on a number of policy matters, including not providing retail to the ground floor or an active frontage to Morning Lane. In addition, the proposed scheme would increase traffic congestion and contribute to poor air quality.

Planning Sub-committee decisions can be viewed at http://mginternet.hackney.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?XXR=0&Year=2010&CId=125&

The Planning Sub-group’s comments can be viewed at http://www.hackneysociety.org/page_id__137_path__0p4p.aspx

Well Street Surgery has been refurbished by Stock Woolstencroft Architects. The new building in Shore Street was designed to be sustainable by minimising energy use and increasing the use of renewable energy through solar panels. Other features include passive ventilation, high performance windows, and rainwater harvesting.

Hoxton Hall celebrated the centenary of its dance studio and creative workspace on 11 June 2010. The event featured an exhibition about the history of the hall, a demonstration of hip-hop and a reception. Mayor Jules Pipe was there to cut the birthday cake.

Hackney Marsh Adventure Playground has a new building with facilities for art and cookery lessons, access for disabled people and office space for staff. Last year the outdoor play area was refurbished with new play equipment such as tree houses and bridges, nets and rope ladders.

The Hackney Podcast has won a Gold Sony Radio Award for Best Internet Programme. The winning programme, a documentary about water, featured Iain

Sinclair following the route of Hackney Brook and sports historian Simon Inglis discussing swimming pools in Hackney. Produced by Guardian journalist Francesca Panetta and her partner Felix Carey, the Hackney Podcast’s first broadcast was in July 2008. It has covered a number of Hackney Society events.

The Clapton Conference had its inaugural meeting on 21 June 2010. Organised by the Clapton Pond Neighbourhood Action Group the new group aims to build a partnership between local groups, residents and businesses to improve the built environment of Clapton. Chaired by Cllr Ian Rathbone, the meeting was attended by representatives of local groups as well as Council employees including Graham Loveland (Assistant Director of Planning).

The Foundry in Shoreditch is due to be demolished to make way for a new luxury hotel. In order to try and save the former bar and gallery, people congregated outside the building on 28 June 2010 to protest about the proposed demolition.

The Lion Public House in Stoke Newington has bucked the trend for pubs to close. It has reopened after a six-month refurbishment.

Stoke Newington Common Users’ Group (SNUG) has restored the fountain between Rectory Road and Northwold Road. Installed in 1960, the fountain fell into disrepair and was out of action for at least 20 years.

Julian Harrap Architects’ contribution to the renovation of the Neues Museum (Berlin) has won the Grand Prix at the European Union’s prestigious Europa Nostra Award 2010, and the RIBA’s European Award 2010. David Chipperfield Architects and Julian Harrap Architects worked on the restoration and extension of the museum (a World Heritage Site) designed by Friedrich August Stüler between 1841and 1859. The Society would like to congratulate Julian Harrap, a long-standing member of the Society, for his achievements in building conservation.

6

by Dr Robyn Pender

There are few who do not recognise the importance of caring for the environment, especially in the face of a changing climate. In addition most of us wish to make a useful contribution to decreasing energy use and preparing for a sustainable future, in our homes and workplaces as much as in the wider community. Unfortunately it is hard to find reliable and trustworthy advice that looks at the complete picture of sustainability, and is not just trying to sell a technological fix. Should we be sealing our buildings to keep in heat energy, or opening them up to cater for hotter summers? Should we double-glaze our windows with units that need regular replacement, or be looking at increasing ventilation to avoid mould growth? The relevant building regulations are sadly immature, and there is as yet little hard data upon which to base sensible decisions.

There is a great need for expert guidance to lead us through the mass of confusing and often contradictory information, and I wish that I could report that The Prince’s Regeneration Trust’s new publication, The Green Guide for Historic Buildings, is an excellent step in that direction; but whilst its intentions are worthy, it is by no means the authoritative and practical handbook we have been waiting for.

Its 123 pages certainly contain much useful information, but this has been collected from disparate sources, and there is no assessment of its relative reliability or worth. Numbers generated by computer models are presented alongside measured values, without distinguishing between them, and here and there are ‘facts’ that contradict other ‘facts’ given a few pages earlier. It is particularly worrying to see comparative graphs of heat loss from various building types, which are not labelled to indicate that they map calculated rather than measured values; it would not be wise to base actions on this type of data.

We are still at the early stages of under-standing how traditionally constructed buildings behave, but recent measurements

are confirming what many have long suspected: that the calculated u-values (measures of insulation) are by no means an accurate reflection of how real building systems behave. That theory and reality sometimes clash is rather well illustrated on p16, where a thermal image showing that heat loss from a row of terraces is greatest from the windows is accompanied by text that suggests loss is greater through walls and roofs.

Part of the problem may be the confusing organisation of the book, which begins with statutory requirements – certainly an apt reflection of the current state of legislation, but not the best approach for protecting either the buildings or the environment. In books, as in life, it is more helpful to begin by clarifying what it is we need to achieve: preserve function, preserve special character, produce fewer emissions, and be able to adapt to climate changes, whatever they bring us.

To become truly sustainable, our decisions must be based on whole-life costs, and consider current and future energy use, not just for heating, but for construction. This is certainly not a point that escapes the book’s editors, but their message is currently rather swamped by ancillary information.

I do also worry about how little time the book spends addressing cutting

consumption, in comparison to the many pages devoted to alternative energy sources.

Perhaps we can hope for a second edition, which begins with the buildings, and with the really substantial improvements that can be made not with technological fixes, but by changing the way the building is being used. The greatest change in the last 50 years – during which our energy use has skyrocketed – has not been in the fabric of older buildings, but in the way we live and work in them. No longer do we all gather in the warm kitchen, homework on the table: every room is heated, even the conservatory; each bedroom has a television and a computer. This is where it is easy, and even fun to make changes, and it fits well with the vision of sustainable lifestyles so ably presented in the work of the Prince’s Trust.

Dr Robyn Pender is a Senior Architectural Conservator with the Conservation Department at English Heritage. She has a PhD in Building Physics. She spent two years at the Bartlett Graduate School at University College London looking at the effects of climate change on the historic environment. She is currently sub-editor to a new 10-part Practical Building Conservation series, to be published by English Heritage in 2010/11.

The Prince’s Regeneration Trust, The Green Guide for Historic Buildings: How to Improve the Environmental Sustainability of Listed and Historic Buildings The Stationery Office, 2010, £24.99

Book review

7

Annual General MeetingMonday 20 September, 7pmVenue to be confirmed. FREE to all

Beating the Bounds of the GamesSaturday 25 September, 11amWalk with Lisa RiggFind out about the colourful characters who lived and worked in the Wick: the Olympic gold medallist Harry Malin, boxer and member of the Eton Manor Boys’ Club; old Etonian Arthur Villiers; Carless, Capel and Leonard – the pioneers of Petrol; Alexander Parkes, the inventor of the first plastic in the world; and the chemist Arthur George Green. Sporting and industrial heroes will be brought to life on this illuminating walk. Bring a picnic lunch. Meet outside Hackney Wick Overground. FREE to all

Lived in London: Blue Plaques and the Stories Behind ThemThursday 21 October 2010, 7pmTalk with Susan SkeddCome and hear about the people and buildings that have been honoured withblue plaques in Hackney and elsewhere in London. Meet at Pages of Hackney, 70 Lower Clapton Road, London E5FREE to members, £3.00 non-members

Tall BuildingsMonday 1 November, 7pmPanel discussion with Prof Robert Tavernor, Chris Dorley-Brown and Tanis HinchcliffeAfter a decade of dismantling Hackney’s tower blocks in the 1980s and 1990s, tall buildings are back on the agenda. How should we react to these buildings? How do we judge the suitability of proposed locations? Meet at Hothouse, 274 Richmond Road, London E8. FREE to all

Clapton LibraryMonday 29 November, 7pmTour with local historianDesigned by Edwin Cooper, this Carnegie-funded library originally opened on 17 January 1914. But, after nearly 100 years of lending books, the fabric of the building was in desperate need of updating. Shepheard Epstein Hunter was commissioned to design an extension and restore the original fabric of this Grade II listed Edwardian building. Come and see the striking restoration, refurbishment and extension that provides more space and comfort. Meet outside Clapton Library, Northwold Road, London E5. FREE to members, £5.00 non-members

Shoreditch Pub CrawlThursday 9 December, 7pmSeasonal drinksCome and discover the historic pubs and new watering holes of the City Fringe. Meeting point to be confirmed. FREE to all

Bicycle – Love Your Bike: The Complete Guide to Everyday Cycling by Helen Pidd

Hackney-based journalist Helen Pidd provides advice for ‘non-Lycra-wearing people who happen to cycle or want to start’. It includes photos taken in London Fields. Publisher: Fig Tree, £14.99.

From Eton Manor to the Olympics: More Lea Valley Secrets Revealed by Jim Lewis

Jim Lewis focuses on the history of the Lea Valley that relates to the Olympics. It describes how redundant track surface from the 1948 Olympic Games at Wembley was uplifted and transported to Leyton and used to repair the track at Eton Manor. Lewis traces the growth of Speedway into a major sport in the Lea Valley, with teams in Rye House, Walthamstow, Lea Bridge, Haringey, Hackney Wick and West Ham. Publisher: Libri Publishing, £9.99.

Spaces is published by the Hackney Society. Views expressed in the articles are not necessarily those of the Society.

Edited by: Lisa Rigg and Monica Blake Layout by: design@gloryhall.comContributors: Monica Blake, Kim Driscoll, Robyn Pender, Lisa Rigg, Ann Robey and Lisa Shell

Photos: Archer Architects, Avanti Architects, Dan Betts, Hackney Archives, the Hackney Society, Lisa Shell, Grant Smith and Malcolm Smith

The Hackney Society The Round Chapel, 1d Glenarm Road, London E5 0LY

T: 020 8806 4003E: info@hackneysociety.orgW: www.hackneysociety.orgThe Hackney Society is a registered Charity (No 107459) and Company limited by guarantee (No 04574188)

Hackney Society Events

kopykatDesign and Print

Thanks to Kopykat for sponsoring this issue

Kopykat Printing Limited 76 Rivington Street, London EC2A 3AYTel: 020 7739 2451 Fax: 020 7729 5925www.kopykat.co.uk Kopykat based in Shoreditch specialises in company stationery and high quality marketing material, we cover onsite litho printing, digital printing, copying and direct mail, environmentally we have recently been awarded Green Mark accreditation and we print using vegetable based inks, without the use of alcohol and deliver in an LPG vehicle.

Funded by Team Hackney and Hackney Parochial Charities

Hackney Society News Seventy-five people attended our first debate on the theme of sustainability versus conservation on 20 May 2010 at Hothouse in London Fields. A further 25 people attended our talk Optimistic Architecture at Hackney Museum on 10 June 2010 – a lively debate followed about the value of post-war architecture. Family Mosaic Housing Association has commissioned the Society to undertake a series of longer walks aimed at increasing residents’ fitness and local knowledge. Part of Activate London, this project will start in September 2010 and run until August 2011.

The Society once again faces funding difficulties, which will affect the Society’s ability to comment on planning applications from October 2010. This is a real disappointment as the Planning Sub-group is just beginning to make a real difference. We are currently in negotiations with Hackney Council about funding, but with public sector funding cuts the outlook does not look promising.

The good news is that the Society is planning a new project in collaboration with Hackney Council’s Conservation, Sustainability and Urban Design Team to survey the borough’s 448 locally listed buildings. Currently, there are no resources available to help judge the architectural and historical significance of these buildings. Through volunteer involvement, the Society plans to conduct a rapid survey to record date built, postal address, ward, architect or builder, building type, architectural style, building materials, condition and reason for local listing. As part of the funding application process we need to prove that there is a demand and need for this project. Therefore we would like to hear from you. A consultation form can be downloaded from http://www.hackneysociety.org/page_id__163_path __.aspx

PublicationsTo avoid disappointment please book in advance as many events are over subscribed. Please check our website for up-to-date information and additional events that are organised throughout the year. Most of our events are free to Hackney Society members and £5 to non-members. Contact Lisa on 020 8806 4003 or email lisa@hackneysociety.org